A Look back

-Detroit wanted to take linebacker Patrick Willis out of the game; they fired an offensive lineman at him on nearly every play. It left wingman Takeo Spikes free, and he did a marvelous Willis impression, by shooting the gaps, making tackles everywhere and recovering a fumble. Spikes is signed through next season and hopefully the 12-year veteran will maintain his frisky level of play.

-What’s happened to Mark Roman? The guy is playing like a madman. He forced another fumble against the Lions and Roman, who once couldn’t get a turnover even if was roaming Pepperidge Farm, is now becoming a ball hawk.

Takeo Spikes is back for another year.

-Did you see the move Michael Crabtree put on the cornerback to get open for his 50-yard reception? He faked to the outside and cut hard inside – the best corner-post move since Dwight Clark. Crabtree, however, is still having his Jerry Rice rookie moments; he nearly fumbled that catch after he secured the ball. But the 49ers are finally looking at a legitimate number one receiver, once Crabtree gets a training camp in him.

-The Lions were also intent on taking Vernon Davis out of the game, particularly on the seam route against two-deep coverage down the middle of the field. That might be one reason Alex Smith has failed to consistently click in the last three games. This is part of the maturation process, Smith is going to have to adjust and find other receivers.

–Mike Singletary sure was right, the Lions did everything they could to defend the run. They kept their base defense in on third down; they stuffed eight and sometimes nine in the box against the 49ers two tight-end and two-back sets, even when Smith went into the shotgun. They wanted to make Smith beat them, particularly in the first half.

-Smith has three modes. The first the tentative, don’t-blow-it mode, which was evidenced by Smith underthrowing the aforementioned 50-yard pass to Crabtree. He underthrew it on purpose. Smith said overthrowing that pass would be like “blowing a layup.” Point taken but a more confident quarterback would throw up for the touchdown. The second mode is over-excited, blow-the-pass-5-yards-over-the-head mode. For that one, cue up his first-half throw to Delanie Walker who was open in the end zone from about 15 yards away. The last is the calm, make-a-play-mode. Smith had this going with his scrambles from the pocket and then his throws against the grain to Davis (13 yards) and Walker (22 yards). Smith, at times, is also thinking one step ahead of the defense. His telling Frank Gore to sneak out into the flat on fourth-and-1 from the short-yardage formation was a perfect example and it resulted in a 48-yard gain.

-The offensive line too often shifts the wrong way on blitzes, meaning when a blitzer is coming from the left, the line shifts to the right, believing the blitz is coming from that side. It leaves a one or even two defenders unblocked. The team needs to prepare better for blitz packages during the week and on game day.

-The 49ers used play-action to perfection, particularly in the first half. Smith was 6-for-6 for 121 yards off play-action, which is a great sign for him. Play action is difficult for a quarterback because it forces them to take their eyes off the secondary for a second and that means they have to read the defense all over again in a milli-second after executing the fake. With the running game cranked up again, play-action might be nearly impossible to defend.

-It’s too bad the 49ers can’t play one more game against a quality opponent. They need to see if some of the aforementioned can work against a highly-functioning offense and defense.